A Salem regular and a Salem newbie will meet Friday night for the 2012 Division III football national championship, as No. 1 Mount Union will face No. 4 St. Thomas in yet another matchup of purple programs. Could St. Thomas someday be a Purple Power? Shoot, can St. Thomas even beat Mount Union this week? Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan discuss in this week’s Around the Nation podcast.

They each talk about what they saw in Saturday’s semifinals, and in fact, Keith gets to turn the tables on Pat and ask the questions for once. Why is this St. Thomas team more successful than the ones preceding it, despite what seems like less star power? Did Kevin Burke perform well under pressure against Mary Hardin-Baylor? Was Nate Wara affected by the broken pinky finger? What’s next for UMHB? Plus, a lot of talk about the two head coaches and a sales pitch to get fans to come to Salem.